Ukrainian identity has historically been defined in opposition to Russia, but an anti-Russian agenda is unable to bind together a state with a large ethnic Russian population. With the Yanukovych administration now taking a neo-Stalinist approach to history and education, airbrushing out nationali
The bloody postscript to last month’s Belarusian presidential elections has made any strategy of engagement clearly unfeasible, writes David Marples. Going forward, the European Union faces an extremely delicate task of managing relations with Lukashenka's unpredictable regime. It may well find it
On Sunday, Belarus goes to the polls, ending an election cycle that saw all the usual assumptions turned on their heads. In this, the second of a two part analysis, David R. Marples and Uladzimir Padhol look at the candidates and ask if a Lukashenka victory is anything other than a foregone conclu
On Sunday, Belarus goes to the polls, ending an election cycle that has seen all the usual assumptions turned on their heads. In the first of a two part analysis, David R. Marples and Uladzimir Padhol concentrate on a Russia-Europe tug-of-war that has dominated the campaign. Part II looks at the c
Next year's presidential elections offer a real opportunity of disposing a tired, weakened and unpopular Lukashenka, says Presidential hopeful Yaroslau Romanchuk. In this interview with David Marples, Romanchuk outlines a strategy for election and why his candidature offers the best prospect for t
Alyaksandr Lukashenka's support is waning — both domestically and from Russia — and he now looks the the most vulnerable he has done for years. Yet the opposition's failure to unite behind a single candidate still seems set to hand him victory in the upcoming presidential election.
